Harry Potter - "We've got something worth fighting for."

Warning: This review was written under the assumption that everyone reading would have at least read the book, whether or not they’ve seen the movie. In other words, I didn’t hold back while discussing the ending.

Last Friday night I went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I was a little hesitant about this film because I hadn’t been too impressed with The Goblet of Fire, but I quickly learned I had nothing to worry about. I think this film is the best of the series so far. I heard that Daniel Radcliffe has stated that it’s his favorite film so far and I can see why. While it had the expected deviations from the book, they managed to cover the really important scenes and they didn’t add in too many random unnecessary scenes that had nothing to do with the book. I think they managed to stay as close to the book as they could given the obvious time constraints. The effects and everything in this movie were also very well done.

Ralph Fiennes is so good at playing Voldemort. The guy is just downright creepy. After watching “Maid in Manhattan” (don’t laugh) I really wouldn’t have expected it, but he is. I think Ralph Fiennes was my favorite part of the fourth film, and he was just as good (if not better) this time around.

I think they did a great job of portraying Harry’s isolation in this film. Even when he was around Ron and Hermione it was easy to tell how alone he felt. Since this isolation was one of the larger themes of the fifth novel, I was happy to see that they were able to translate it onto film so well.

I was also happy with the change to the fire scene in this movie. I know that changing how Sirius appeared in the fire doesn’t fit with the fourth film, but I still liked the change. I was never happy with how they did that in the last film. Of course, I was also bitter because that was the only Sirius scene we got, and I really wanted to see more of Sirius in the fourth movie. Which brings me to my next point.

I loved the increase of Sirius’ role in this movie. I knew we had to see more of him in order to make the ending of the movie more emotional, but I was really worried about how they were going to do this and was afraid they would cheat us out of some good Harry/Sirius moments. Instead, I think they did a really good job of making the scenes impactful; in some ways they were even more meaningful than the interaction Harry and Sirius had in the book. It was more than just Harry and Sirius interacting, you could feel the bond that they had formed, which was really important, since we didn’t get to see Harry and Sirius really interact during the last movie. I was even okay with them changing the scene with the Order of the Phoenix photo because it gave Harry and Sirius more screen time together.

It figures that I would just begin to like Gary Oldman as Sirius Black while watching this movie. When he was first cast for the role I wasn’t thrilled because I’m not a huge Oldman fan (nothing against him, I just haven’t seen many of his movies) and I was expecting someone younger (same with Lupin, I was expecting someone younger and better looking than David Thewlis). However, the more I watch the Prisoner of Azkaban and while watching this movie I really starting liking him in the role. He’s still not quite the Sirius Black I had imagined, but he does a really good job. So good in fact, that I cried every time Sirius and Harry interacted with each other. I’m not kidding. Right from the beginning, when Sirius saw Harry walking up the hall towards the kitchen in Grimmauld Place, there were tears. And I nearly died when he told Harry, “When this is over we’ll be a proper family, you’ll see.” Oh that hurt. And I had tears from the time Harry had the vision of Voldemort torturing Sirius until well past the time credits started rolling. I cry every time I read the book, but seeing it on screen and actually watching Sirius fall through that arch was horrible.

Dolores Umbridge was just as foul as I imagined her. I think they did a good job casting, and writing her part. She was even more sickening in the movie than in the book. I despised her even more on screen and I didn’t think that was possible. I really wanted to smash every one of those kitten plates hanging on the wall in her office; I cringed every time they did a scene in there (and from the sounds I was hearing in the theater I wasn’t the only one), but that’s a good thing. I think it’s great that the Umbridge in the film was able to evoke such strong emotions in the audience.

As I said earlier, I think they did a god job of staying fairly close to the book. I had created a list in my head of the scenes that I thought were most important to have in the movie, and I’m pretty sure they covered every one. Of course, some were slightly altered from the way they were written in the book, but most times that didn’t bother me with this film. It seemed like the changes they made were at least reasonable within the context of the film. And a lot of times if they changed a scene, or added one, they at least included dialogue from the book, so the scene wasn’t entirely a throwaway scene. One of my biggest complaints from the fourth film (aside from the lack of Sirius time) was the lengthening of the dragon scene. They spent a lot of extra time and money creating a whole sequence of events that didn’t even take place in the book, when they could have been adding in more important scenes, or at least making the maze a little cooler (I wasn’t impressed with the maze scene either).

I think my favorite moment in this film would have to be Sirius apparating and punching Lucius as he tells him to “get away from my godson!” I loved every scene between Harry and Sirius, but I really loved this scene. While I hated it at the same time (like I said, tears, lots of tears) I think those moments before Sirius fell through the veil were the best in the film. Hearing Sirius tell Harry he had performed, “beautifully,” seeing them fight side by side; I know it wasn’t exactly as it was written in the book but I think it was amazingly well done, and as I said before it all worked to make that final, horrible moment all the more powerful. And I know this is probably heresy, but I think I almost liked this scene better in the movie than I do in the book.

I think they also did a good job with the fight between Dumbledore and Voldemort, and I liked how they showed Voldemort possessing Harry. I think the visuals were great and I liked how they flashed through all those important memories that helped Harry regain control. Finally, I loved the expression on Fudge's face, "He's back!" Duh! haha.I also how liked how they left the ending hopeful for Harry.

Did anyone else notice that during the scene with Luna? I can’t remember her exact line, but it was something like, “The things we lose have a way of finding they’re way back to us; though maybe not as we expect.” It was almost as if they were foreshadowing Sirius’ return, or at least leaving the door open for it. When I first read this book I was in utter denial and was convinced Sirius could not possibly be gone forever. I’m not quite as certain of that anymore, but I like how the ending of this movie left it open, as if the screenwriter is also hopeful that Sirius might still return in the final book.

I think that’s all I really have to say about the movie. I would really like to be able to see it again, but there’s still a lot of other good movies coming out so I don’t know if I’ll get the chance. But I really enjoyed this movie, which is good since I didn’t expect to. Now that I finally finished my review I’m looking forward to hearing what everyone else thought about the movie!